The Social Body, Family Values and Jesus

In a "profound, earthy and funny" (from the book blurb by Paul J. Griffiths) book--Tortured Wonders: Christian Spirituality for People, Not Angels--by Rodney Clap I find inspiration for this piece. This all started when I decided to read the whole book, having read a few chapters a few years ago. You know how that is. By the way, it's an excellent book and is still available; I just checked the Baker/Brazos website.

As the host of a house church with some participants who are new to taking the Bible seriously, weekly prayer and communion, I find myself (lifelong Christian) thinking deeply about how to communicate effectively. And so, when I read the following in Tortured Wonders I brought this into our discussion about a healing story in Luke the next Sunday. These two excerpts are central to this essay.

Unlike any known culture before it, the modern West has seen individual physical bodies as the basis of the social body. The individual is real and primary, the social body a derivative fiction. The modern West has, in essence and contrary to the apostle Paul, said that individuals as "hands" or "feet" are most themselves in isolation from any social body of which they may be members. Premoderns saw matters differently. The individual, inasmuch as such a creature could be conceived [emphasis mine], was preceded by and dependent on the social body. The whole person exited only in community (72).

When I introduced the healing story, I invited people to think about how this played out for the whole community, not just the individuals, how healing might have taken place in the social fabric. I am going to be pondering this for a while, remembering that many of the second-person pronouns in the New Testament are second-person plural--which we lose in the English translation, and in our individualist mindset. OK, back to the topic at hand.

But still I have caught a glimpse of what St. Augustine called concupiscence, the darkness of disordered desire which would make of the self a god and of all other creatures (and even of God Almighty) means or tools of the self's satisfaction and aggrandizement (67).

 My impression is that this "disordered desire" has primarily been identified in the sphere of human sexual relations, however, does it not make sense in terms of much of human failing in other spheres as well?

A great deal of Christian rhetoric makes the news when it addresses family values, the constitution of a family, the parenting of children and marriage. On one side, people argue on behalf of what is commonly referred to as a conservative agenda, countered on the other hand by a so-called progressive agenda.
A: Marriage and family look like this... vs
B: No, marriage and family look like this.
Taking the Bible seriously leads to a close reading of the whole text (from Lot to Abraham to David particularly) and not finding a lot that supports a definition of family values that "conservatives" would affirm. And then there's that troublesome story about Jesus in Mark 3:31-35 (NRSV):

31 Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” 33 And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” 

Proclamations from all sides of the family debate tend toward an expression of "concupiscence," in other words, what serves the individual self's satisfaction. Making biological/adoptive/chosen family a primary value apart from the will of God is a disordered desire. Echoing what Clapp says in terms of Christian spirituality not wanting to erase all differences between person (76); neither do followers of the Way of Jesus want to deny the existence and importance of families (variously defined). We are called to rightly order our desires (to use Augustinian language) and to recall that Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13 about the love that is to be found in Christian worshiping communities--which then would facilitate that love in all relationships, including marriage and family.

Because we post-moderns have lost this rootedness in communal ties in which premodern cultures were steeped, we desperately seek for alternatives and elevate them beyond the importance that is rightfully theirs. Nations, sports teams, corporations, families, political parties, etc--all are found wanting as social bodies to convey identity. At the same time, modern spirituality focuses on self-realization or self-fulfillment, which "in the terms of Christian spirituality [is] perversely making the fall its ideal. It puts forth the alienated and amputated individual as the highest and healthiest human condition. And--seen with Christian eyes--that is an illusion. The amputated limb is a dying limb" (Clapp, 77).

Death is all around us: addiction, violence, greed, species extinction, suicide, hatred.
For us to choose life, we must re-member the social body, and recognize that our choice for life in God's realm is a communal reality.

2013 Clergy Session Prayer

The context for this prayer: I have been the "shepherd" for candidates for ordained ministry during their interviews. When those who have been approved come before the Clergy Session at our United Methodist Annual Conference, the shepherd is called upon to offer a prayer before we vote in affirmation of the recommendations by the Board of Ordained Ministry (which comes from that day of interviews noted above). This is the prayer I wrote this year.

As your children, friends and partners in the gospel by the grace of baptism and sanctifying grace, O Lord we come to you in prayer for ourselves, for all your creatures and for your world.

Called and gifted for your service, we see the intersections of powers and principalities that cut and break lives and communities: greed, selfishness, lust for power, racism, sexism, hatred, violence and deception. Grant that we may participate in your healing and renewing of all creation, trusting that with you all things are possible.

Whether in small towns or large cities we see the shattering of your will in creation and blessing of all you have made. And we see the power of grace in enabling us to choose the good in so many ways: the countless people who deliver Meals on Wheels, who tutor in schools, who march and pray and write for justice and peace, who clean up the neighborhood park, who pray with their neighbors in illness or tragedy, who plant and share the abundance of their gardens, who understand their daily work as a vocation in service to you no matter the status conferred by the world. In these and more, your light shines as from many cities on many hills.

Bless these who stand before us, with grace in commissioning and ordaining, that they may join in your healing work and in proclaiming the good news of your realm that is both a present and hoped-for reality. In their strengths may they serve the flourishing of your kingdom with humility. In their weakness, may your strength carry them and make known your love and power more and more.

"Lead us in being a people that follow after the things that make for peace, love and unity. Pour your love into our lives, such that we shall love all and desire the good of all" (Margaret Fell Fox, 17th-century Quaker leader).


Amen.

One of those awkward moments

I just had one of those experiences when people in the room are saying, "White people are always.... You know, they're white so..... Why do they (white people) do that thing.....?"

The thing is, I'm Anglo. So it was a little odd. Due to my education and penchant for reading, I am aware of white privilege as something I get to walk around in like a protective shield or mobile force field. I am reading The New Jim Crow and I get so angry and discouraged at the same time that I can only read short sections before I need a break. I am not saying this to make myself out some kind of saint, or someone who deeply understands what it means to be Black in the USA. This is not about me wanting to take on some hip hop identity or co-opt Black culture....or save anybody.

Since I am just as culpable, take for instance what I think of white boys listening to misogynistic rap with the bass amp making the car bounce and sounding echoes off the houses on the road.... To visit that judgment for a moment, they could've picked country music, plenty of patriarchy and non-feminist texts there, so why the rap industrial complex? Maybe it speaks to something that they need, besides the overt wealth and hyper masculinity.

I just don't think we are going to get anywhere--from any 'side'--if we talk about those (identifier) people instead of meeting up with a person who has all sorts of complexity, including the construct of race. Or age, or immigration status, or gender, or sexual orientation, or weight, or education, or class, and so on. This is not some new mega-idea of course, but each of us can take ideas in our lives when they become needed and give them substance by pulling them into praxis.

Before you read the words below, which I wrote in December, I want anyone who reads this to know that my family and friends have been incredibly helpful, above and beyond what I have ever done for anyone else, so this is in no way a criticism of anyone in my circle of family and friends.

Unemployment and the Safety Net

As of July 1 I became one of the unemployed, but I don't know if I am even one of the statistics because my work was not for one of the companies or organizations that provides for unemployment insurance. How does anyone know to count me?

I was aware that the change was coming and had been looking for a new job, albeit with the constraints of spending time preparing for the transition at my current position and having spring/summer yard and garden tasks at home. My first withdrawal from some retirement savings to get me through the first few months was less than I anticipated due to some rules about the account...and it turned out that it was only going to be a loan which I immediately had to begin repaying. "Well,"I thought, "then I'll get some freelance work to supplement," except that the first option didn't pan out and the second didn't have the demand for which I hoped.

I immediately purchased a "bridge plan" for health insurance which didn't cover any pre-existing conditions, but would provide major medical coverage. This meant I began paying full price for my two prescriptions and stayed away from the clinic because anything covered under that three months would then be excluded if I bought another three-month policy. Luckily I was healthy and didn't fall from any ladders. I also continued to carry insurance on my car and my home because it seemed like the right thing to do, even though I wasn't earning any money.

You might ask where my emergency savings (not from retirement, which carries an early withdrawal penalty) were? Single, homeowner, non-profit employment, paying higher portion of health insurance and medical expenses, my car died a few years before I thought it would and I needed a reliable replacement...enough said!

Being optimistic at the beginning of the job search, having gotten affirmation from a career counselor, I didn't think to apply for assistance from my county or state because it wouldn't be long before I was back to work. It turns out I was wrong. In the fall I applied for SNAP (food stamps) and Medical Assistance and they have been life-savers. I receive $200 a month for food and have my medical and dental paid for 100%. It's great to not have those prescriptions come in around $100 each month with no income.

Now I'm ready to see if there's anything else the government can provide since it's December and it seems there are fewer positions I qualify for on the job posting site. Wait a minute, some might say. How about selling that expensive house and moving in with family or friends? Due to the timing of my need for a home, this house cost me more than I can sell it for and I don't know where I'd get the thousands to pay off the mortgage. I have listed a room for rent via an agency that screens potential renters, with no success so far. (In March I did receive energy assistance to pay for my winter heating bills, after applying in early December.)

Why rely on the government (aka taxpayers) when you have family and friends?! I have gotten some assistance from family and friends with some household supplies (which are not covered by SNAP). Meanwhile, I have noticed that some of my friends or family members continue to pay college tuition for their offspring, take international vacations, make home improvements, buy new electronics...and pay the taxes that provide the safety net I need right now. Replacing the income from a full-time, mid-level management job isn't easy.

Would you suggest they forego some of the luxuries and give the money to me instead? That this is how our country should operate? That this mutual support is not a part of the deep values of the U.S. is evidenced by the following: private property (including yards) that can be posted "no trespassing," the right to bear arms being closely tied to the right to protect one's home (a recent shooting of two teens breaking in to a home in MN as evidence), most churches teach tithing (giving 10%) but average closer between 1 and 2% of members' incomes--even a spiritual claim can't overcome the sense that what is mine is mine alone.

And yet, hurricanes, floods, fires and tornados engender outpourings of generosity...for a time. Perhaps we can sustain giving for a moment or an acute crisis, but not for the less visible chronic crises. Since 2008 unemployment has been dire and yet there are no huge public fund raisers nor mobilizations of support. That's why we need a civic, neutral, accessible,  non-personal method of financial assistance so that leaning on friends and family isn't the only option. I will admit that until this year I didn't have an empathetic sense for the difficulty and insecurity that plague so many people in this country. When I think about just this past week, with one more rejection e-mail that was like hitting the wall, and multiply that by all the people looking for work, that's a lot of pain and struggle.

A common suggestion is that people should work rather than receive public assistance. I have wrestled with that, but it's tough to figure out how to come out ahead in the trade-offs. If I earn some money to stretch my retirement withdrawals, once it gets over $700 a month I would lose Medical Assistance and have to pay for my own insurance again, and get back in the realm of prescription co-pays, exclusions for pre-existing conditions and deductibles. If my income from some part-time work would get up around $1200-1400 a month then I would not qualify for food stamps. By earning something I would end up spending more. Is there a calculator that can figure out the best course of action?

Meanwhile, if you hear of a good full-time job that'll cover my house, car, food, clothing, medical and taxes let me know. And I am willing to ride my bike to work...

A Long Absence, or When Everything Stopped

Some important things stopped for me in the summer of 2012, and it took me a while to even know it. In July I joined that great cloud of witnesses called "the unemployed." That same month, one of my cats started peeing on the furniture, and the vet hoped it was just a UTI, but thought it was probably bladder cancer. When the antibiotic ran its course and blood appeared along with the urine I couldn't see paying for the CT scan, couldn't see continuing to pay $10 a day for pain meds so I chose euthanasia. Even though it was another expense to adopt a new Humane Society kitten, a week after Jazmine's death I thought that would be a good bit of new life. The first kitten got a name "Contessa di Como," Tessa for short, and came in all beautiful, playful and delightful. She wasn't eating the next morning and just died on her cushioned chair early in the afternoon while I was frantically trying to find a vet who would see her.

I was getting into the rhythm of writing -- or thinking about writing -- for this blog; that stopped.
I was keeping up with balancing my checkbook, reviewing my credit card statements, and keeping track of everything in Quicken; that stopped.
I was optimistic about finding a rewarding career sort of job that would pay for my expenses as a homeowner, car owner, etc. Not so much any more.

When I ask Godde what it is I need to do, what Godde wants me to do, the word has been "write" for several months now. I even have had a short list of essay topics in my head, but I didn't start because I wasn't sure why those words would matter. The direction to write is still the answer.

Since I have successfully (I think) done some new things in this self-funded sabbatical--volunteering at a food shelf, becoming a member of the board of directors of a small non-profit focused on climate change, started learning Spanish (which came as another one of those Words from Godde)--I am embarking on doing the writing about those things that have been in my head for several months. The big, church-related topics, probably won't show up here but I do have one piece that I want to try out. OK, I'll post this on go find that saved file.

The grass is greener?

Yesterday I was mowing the front yard and forgot to turn off my brain. It wasn't a new train of thought, but seemed to have picked up speed or a new diesel engine. What is it with lawns? Why do we, who have lawns, plant these monocultures that absorb hours of precious time through mowing, weeding, aerating, raking, watering and fertilizing? Maybe you don't do all these things--I'm not either--but I do mow. Here's the question I had not thought of before: who has lawns, historically I mean? I suggest that lawns are an accessory found on the estates of the wealthy, the landed gentry, and so on. So when some American said, "A man's home is his castle," someone else figured they better come with an expanse of high maintenance green. The thing is, those who have the estates of the wealthy hire people to take care of that green stuff!

So here we are with this crazy situation. The ideal is a lush, consistently green carpet of grass, which is basically a monoculture even though there are a few varieties of grass seed mixed in that bag you find at your neighborhood hardware store. Monocultures are hard to maintain because every plant is vulnerable to the same environmental risks or conditions. Then I realized that the only other people who plant monocultures do so to make money by selling that product, or people who want to eat what is produced (perhaps through the intermediary of a grazing animal). So far I haven't heard of any way to have financial gain through the care and feeding of a lawn!

When farmers plant crops to sell, they rotate what's planted to avoid depleting the soil nutrients. In the good old days it used to be a four year rotation, but now it's often just two, with fertilizer taking up the load of what is lost by not having a year of alfalfa growing in a field. Again with the craziness since lawns accept no rotation whatsoever. And did you know that clover used to be acceptable in one's yard until an herbicide was developed that could take out clover and leave the grass? Personally, I like the clover in my yard.

Unfortunately, gardens require just as much, or maybe more, maintenance.

House Church: Step 1

This is my first draft - the first invited participants will help to craft the way the house church will take shape. Eventually this will also be a 'zine...at least that's what I think now!

Vision: Damascus Road United Methodist Church

In a few simple words the writer describes life in the first-century church, where the followers of the Way of Jesus met to learn and practice life in the kingdom (realm, reign) of God.

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42).

Just two verses further on, we learn more: “All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people” (Acts 2:44-47a).

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s a United Methodist Christian and pastor—now free on Sundays to consider what sort of church I want to be part of—the idea of starting a house church seemed right for this time. I am not alone in this thinking as others have noticed a rising interest in small churches, in “new monasticism” in urban settings, in spending less on property or staff and more on serving with and for neighbors and the world. Part of the United Methodist influence comes in the proposed name. Early in this particular part of Christian history, Methodist chapels were named for the street on which they were built. I thought back to the two-millennia-old story of an awakening, repentance and turning to the way of Jesus that began on the road to Damascus. Our willingness to hear God, to be transformed, renewed and communicate with others is needed now. Perhaps we won’t have to fall off a horse like Paul did on that road, but the truth of Jesus speaking to each of as a risen and living Lord does make an impact!

When the first generations of followers of the Way of Jesus met together they weren’t able to meet in large groups or buildings because the ‘new’ religion was regarded with some superstition and there were periods of persecution. Paul, one messenger of the good news, wrote letters to groups of Christians in cities around the Mediterranean region of the Roman Empire to help them work out how they would live and work and worship. In the book of Acts in the New Testament we learn some of the ways he and others did their teaching and what the new faith communities were like. We can read in some of Paul’s letters that the reality didn’t always live up to those words above from Acts 2. And yet, the power of those small groups became a movement strong enough to sustain people in the face of persecution, even death.

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nough history already…it is fascinating and there are lots of books, letters and documents preserved from those first centuries that you can look up if you wish.

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ere’s what I’m envisioning for this old/new form of being church. A small group will meet together in a home on Sundays at a time chosen by the participants. To start we will meet at my home, which is at 935 Iowa Ave. W., in Saint Paul. This church will be especially open to people who are new to Christian faith or have been away from church for a while.

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ur worship time together will be about an hour, in three parts, beginning with group examen and prayer (thinking back to the previous week with an eye to feeling close to God or distant), moving into conversational/experiential reading and study of a passage from the Bible, and concluding with communion (sharing in the breaking of bread and cup as Jesus did with his disciples). Like the early followers of the Way of Jesus we will gather around the table after worship and eat a simple meal together (potluck style), taking turns providing the main course.

While skipping around reading randomly from my blog list I found this from Julie Clawson on www.julieclawson.com, in her post titled “Worship confession”:

“Is worship simply about encountering God or should it also involve participating in God? Watching a show and being moved to see God seems like a mere shadow of worship compared to making of ourselves living sacrifices and being caught up in the work of God’s kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven….It is only in the messy and faltering attempts to be the body of Christ—to give of ourselves as we are instead of in a role someone expects of us—that I not only experience God but feel that I am participating in God’s work in the world.”

This is what I hope Damascus Road worship can be about, there will be no show to watch, we will be coming together for the beauty of a gathering in the pursuit of faithful lives and “being caught up in the work of God’s kingdom come.”

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n addition to weekly public worship we will set as a goal daily examen, private prayer and/or Bible reading. If someone is in a twelve-step program that daily practice of Big Book devotions, etc., fulfills this of course! Public and private worship is the framework of this house church. There are two more structural elements: serving people who are poor, disenfranchised, imprisoned, hungry and/or homeless in the Twin Cities together at a frequency and place the group will decide upon; and, third, an expectation and practice of generous giving of financial resources using the tradition of the tithe (one-tenth) as a guide. All three practices will support our reorienting of priorities from self to God and the world. We will decide together where to send our financial gifts. It is my hope that we will decide on a project or program that serves in Christ’s name and that we can become knowledgeable about as we watch the impact of our giving.

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he Vision for Damascus Road UM House Church has roots in the Methodist-Wesleyan tradition, brings some Ignatian-Jesuit-Catholic practices into our daily lives and worship (like the examen),* identifies the gathering as GLBTQ-friendly…and cat friendly, proceeds with mutuality in decision-making, holds confidentiality, and respects the spirituality of 12-step programs. *Each household will receive a copy of Sleeping with Bread, which will serve as a guide to what the examen is all about.

I like this guide to communal decision-making. “Confirmation comes after the process of deciding, not before. It is a four-step process: prayer, discernment conversation, decision, and then confirmation. Make the decision first and then see if there is confirmation, not the other way around. If it's not confirmed, you need to go back to the group and work on the decision some more and bring it back out for more holy conversation” (Bob Farr [2011-05-01], Renovate or Die: 10 Ways to Focus Your Church on Mission [Kindle Locations 1552-1555], Abingdon Press, Kindle Edition.)

John 4:23-24 (MSG)

"It's who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration."